Why you MUST be building your email list – And how to get started

I know email doesn’t sound like the cool place to be these days. I know the buzz is all about getting “Likes” on Facebook and followers on Twitter. I hear the experts talking about the importance of being active on these platforms.

But if you really want to build your business, you need to be in the inbox. Period.

Why email marketing beats social media every time

Every day we’re bombarded with thousands of messages vying for our attention. If we paid attention to each and every one we would go crazy! It’s way too much information. Luckily our brains have become extremely proficient at filtering out superfluous information.

Think about it. How many emails do you get each day? A hundred? And how many social media updates do you get each day? A thousand? Which is more likely to be seen?

Derek Halpern, founder of Social Triggers, recently observed that sending out a tweet or a Facebook update yielded him about 300 clicks. That same message sent to his email list resulted in 4,500 clicks. Wow!

An email list is the biggest business asset you own

When you own your list you can contact them whenever you have something of value to share. Having a special sale or event? Launching a new product? Want to invite them to an event or share some exciting news? These are your people, and they want to hear about it first.Do you see the power there? Your email list is the single most valuable asset your business owns. It’s a list of individuals who have raised their hand and said, “You’re awesome. Please tell me more and keep me in the loop.”

Now I want you to hear me on this point because I see this mistake over and over: Facebook fan pages and Twitter accounts are NOT a substitute for an email list.

Getting started with your email list

I’ll admit, getting started with your email list can be overwhelming at first so I’m going to make it really simple. Sign up with Mail Chimp.

Mail Chimp allows you to build an email list of up to 2,000 contacts for free, and they have some great resources to help you learn your way around their service and the world of email marketing.

Once you have an account you’ll be able to collect subscribers a number of ways:

Add a signup form to your website (like at the bottom of this post)

Add people you meet directly from your phone (at their consent of course)

Collect email signups on a piece of paper and add them to your list manually later

Now you’re able to capture interested fans so you can continue to help them even if they haven’t returned to your website. Pretty cool huh!

Don’t waste another day without building your list

Time and time again I hear big name people in the online business world talk about how they regret not starting their list from day one. I know it doesn’t feel like you’re ready yet. I know you may not be quite sure what to do with the list yet. Start anyway.

When you do know what to do and you are ready, you’ll be way ahead of the game.